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Introduction
December 16, 2003
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree…
Two weeks ago, we took the kids to pick out our Christmas tree. Jerry and Mitch rode together in the pickup truck and Rachel and I took the SUV. It was a cool, sunny Saturday morning. We pulled into the lot, and I noticed several blue spruce trees and Frazier firs lined up outside the front gate. They were so beautiful. We walked up and down the aisles of trees and, after 15 minutes of looking, all the trees started to look the same. Jerry found one and we pulled it out into the aisle and looked at it from all angles. It looked and smelled great and felt moist and lush to the touch. They trimmed the bottom of the tree and loaded it into the back of our truck. Rachel picked out a rosemary tree for her bedroom. Jerry took Rachel home so they could get out the yard decorations and lights. Mitch and I went shopping.
Santa gets busted…
Rachel loves to look at the toy ads in the paper. She is easy to buy for because she likes everything she sees. Mitch, on the other hand, scans the weekly ads for pictures of vacuum cleaners. He is obsessed with them and loves to find pictures of them! I decided to take Mitch shopping to get an idea of what he might like for Christmas. It’s one thing to look at pictures of toys, but quite different to see the toys in person. Mitchell and I did some shopping at Target. After cruising the aisles for household stuff, we went to the back of the store to look at the Christmas decorations and toys. We picked out some stockings and wrapping paper. Then, we strolled up and down the aisles in the toy department, taking our time. He pointed at lots of things he recognized and reached out to touch many of the toys. I let him hold a few toys. He didn’t notice the toys I snuck into the cart when he wasn’t looking. We passed by a display of Wiggles merchandise which immediately caught his eye. I let him hold the Wiggles guitar, and he went wild. His eyes lit up as he pressed the buttons and it played music and he moved his hips and shoulders to the music. I had a tough time getting that guitar out of his hands. I managed to sneak the guitar and 2 other Wiggles toys into the cart without him noticing. I gave him a ball to hold while we waited in line to check out. Target’s shopping bags are typically white with red bulls eyes on them. You can see right through the plastic. For Christmas, they have dark silver bags which they use for toys and other purchases. All of the toys went into the silver bags, and we were able to get outside without Mitch noticing what I bought. We stopped outside to put money in the Salvation Army’s red kettle. As I was digging in my bag, someone bumped into me from behind and our cart took off into the street. As I went to get it, the Wiggles guitar started playing music and Mitch immediately recognized what it was. Ugh! He started yelling, “Wiggles, Wiggles, Wiggles!” I tried to get control of the cart. I picked up Mitch and sped off toward the car, all the while he is screaming for his Wiggles guitar. It seemed like 1000 people were staring at us, as I tried to get him into the car seat, while he arched his back, kicked and cried, and screamed bloody murder. My usual warning to, “KNOCK. IT OFF!” did not work. He flipped over and reached for the Target bag and had the guitar in his hands within seconds. I had no choice, really, but to let him have it. He was so happy. The ride home was so enjoyable. I watched him in the mirror while I wondered (1) how I was going to explain this to Jerry; (2) how I was going to take the guitar away from Mitch.
Holiday decorations & lights…
Jerry brought the tree in and set it up in the stand. Rachel and I got the decorations out of the attic and brought them downstairs while Jerry and Mitch napped. We unwrapped six strands of lights. Rachel would hold one end of the lights and carry it into the kitchen while I held the other end. We plugged them in to test them before stringing them on the tree. We added ornaments and bows. Jerry put the angel on top. Rachel decorated her rosemary tree, upstairs in her room, with miniature ornaments. Mitch was very excited to see the tree when he came downstairs. His favorite expression is, “oh boy!” He made off with some of the ornaments, but he did bring them back. The lights and ornaments are very tempting to his 2-year-old spirit. Jerry caught him in the act of pulling off ornaments. When he tried to stop him, Mitch grabbed a string of lights and started running off with it, while it was still attached to the tree. You have to laugh. The kids decorated the back windows with peel-off stickers. Rachel’s window is very merry and detailed, while Mitch keeps walking off with pieces of his window.
We enjoy driving through the neighborhood in the evenings looking at all the beautiful Christmas lights and decorations. One of the cul-de-sacs in our area goes all out (ala Clark Griswald from Christmas Vacation), and all of the homes feature a different Disney theme. The kids look forward to seeing them every night. At school the kids made snowflakes to decorate the windows as well as gingerbread men, Santas, and reindeer. At home, we lined our property with giant lollipops and Mitch loves to run down the sidewalk and touch each one. The kids starting picking up acorns and collecting them.
We are painting some of them white and gluing them together to make snowmen; others we have painted red and black and glued on eyes to make lady bugs; others we painted orange and turned them into miniature pumpkins with hats and eyes. Very cute and fun!
Kids Praise choir performs…
The church held a birthday party for Jesus on Saturday. Rachel’s Kids Praise choir (ages 4 & 5) performed for 20 minutes. There was a live nativity set with Mary and a newborn baby Jesus, as well as Magi, shepherds, and angels. There were 25 tables set up with 8 chairs at each table. Each table had a different theme (Buzz Light year, Bob the Builder, Barbie, etc.) with plates, hats, party favors, cakes, balloons, and prizes. It was a great program for the kids, and everyone left with happy faces. Afterwards, we went home so Mitch could nap. Then, we headed out to do some Christmas shopping at Toys R Us and Katy Mills Mall. We looked at bikes and so many toys. The store was packed. Jerry took the kids to the other side of the store, while I filled up another cart, covered it with our jackets, and then waited in line to check out. The kids were getting restless as Jerry did his best to entertain them. I met up with Jerry and the kids at the car. We hid the bags in the back of the car. Then, a shopper tapped me on the shoulder and told me that the rest of my bags were back at the checkout counter. Duh! (This was the second time I paid for items and then walked off without them. Nice!) At Katy Mills, we bought boots and shoes for the kids at Stride Rite. This was the first time we shopped at this location, and they had tons of wide and extra wide sizes. Mitch just loved his boots. He refused to put his sneakers back on, so we let him wear his new boots. They are your basic suede, buckskin ankle boot, but he thinks they are the cat’s meow! We went to Old Navy and bought sweaters, PJs, hats, scarves, skirts, dress clothes, and other stuff for the kids. Rachel got some bunny slippers and Mitch got some mouse slippers. We ate dinner at Johnny Rockets. The kids were getting tired. We tried to see Santa, but the line was just too long. We went to the Christmas store to look for our traditional family ornament for this year.
On Sunday, I woke up to the news that Saddam Hussein was captured alive and in U.S. custody. Rachel and I got dressed and went to Sunday school and church. When the announcement was made in church that Saddam was captured, there was a standing ovation for nearly 5 minutes. There was a mixed reaction of surprise, shock and relief. I noticed tears in the eyes of many people, including my own. I just love the Christmas programs at church. I could sit there for hours listening to the hand bell choir, the church choir, the soloists, and the children’s choir perform. Hearing their young voices sing the familiar carols takes me back to when I was a child. It brings back such warm, fond, good memories. I really love our church. I feel such peace and comfort there. I feel right at home, no longer a stranger in a sea of faces. We went to Rachel’s AWANA Christmas party that afternoon. The kids did a craft, had cake and exchanged presents. Rachel and I did some shopping at Kohl’s on the way home, and then it was time to go home, have dinner, and relax.
Ants in her pants!
Yesterday, after I picked the kids up from school, I was getting Mitch strapped into his car seat, while Rachel waited on the other side of the car. She was playing around the flagpole with her hand on the pole and walking around it in circles. All of a sudden, while I was strapping Mitch in, she started screaming and screaming. I shut Mitch’s door and dashed around the car. She was screaming and I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. She kept pointing at her leg and as I looked down, I thought for a second that the car that just drove by ran over her foot. I couldn’t see any blood, though. Rachel shouted, “mom, ants!” I looked down and both of her shoes were covered with fire ants. I ripped off her shoes and socks and lifted her into the car seat. I smacked her shoes on the concrete and shook out her socks. I checked her feet and legs and couldn’t find any ants. I couldn’t see any ant bites either. She seemed fine. I put her shoes and socks in a plastic bag and tied a knot in it and tossed it in the back of the car. As we exited the parking lot, the kids asked for snacks and I passed them back. Five minutes later, Rachel started screaming, “ants! ants! ants!” In the left-hand lane, I couldn’t really do anything. I drove with one hand on the wheel with the other hand reaching back to swipe her legs. She was crying, but we couldn’t see any ants. After we passed through the stop light, she started crying again. I moved into the right lane and turned into the church parking lot. I jumped out of the car and pulled her out of her seat. I ripped off her jeans and wiped her down with a wipe. I still couldn’t find even one ant on her. She seemed fine and calmed down. We stopped for gas and then drove through the cul-de-sac to see the Christmas lights. She started screaming again, this time saying that the ants were in her panties. Half of me was laughing and the other half was ready to rip the head off the ant in her pants. When we got home, I stripped her down and put her into the tub. We did find a few ant bites on her lower back and two on her legs. She was lucky. The last time, she stepped out of the van right into a pile of fire ants and she ended up with more than 50 bites on each foot.
We are having a great time celebrating the holidays. Tonight Rachel performs in the school’s Christmas pageant. She will be dancing to Jingle Bell Rock. She has been practicing in the car each day. I hear her whispering back there, “left, right, shuffle, shuffle, shake, shake, right, left,” But, when I look back to see her, she has only one thing to say: “Quit looking at me!” When I look at Mitch, I get a completely different attitude. He is wearing his sunglasses, is smiling, and his face is covered in chocolate Oreos.
New pictures added with more coming soon:
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/m/millimaki/
Happy Holidays!
Megan
TALK TO ME: http://babiestoday.com/cgi-bin/boards/meganm.pl
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